St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-04-03

Hdnuer Davies of the st. MaryS, Rogers was
wsr ,oer m nlin. Inc last heard of him was about
1ooi' "hen an Old hifbuster told me that Rog-
ers was living somewhere in Southern G ALI
iornla IN fine style, having made piles Of
money. money. Nobody in the state knew he was
Alssane, and presume his identity has been
unguessed to this day.
THE STEAMBOAT CRIME.
CLEVELAND, o.. April 2-The discovery of
klssane in California as RICH prosperous.
reputable citizen, and his supposed identlica-
llon with the noted forger and criminal who
was Twice indicted in New York for forgery
committed upon the Chemical bank and sent
TO the penitentiary, has aroused attention in
cleveland. This is the man who is believed
10 have been one of the leaders in the great
Martha Washington steamboat conspiracy at
Olnclnnatl, q tragedy that was consummated
upon the Mississippi river by which that
steamer was burned, its cargo and several lives
destroyed in 1851, and which at the time occa-
stoned by the arrest and trial of the criminals
engaged IN the plot, produced as much public
excitement in Ohio US ever known to arise
from criminal prosecutor. The defendant.
hlssane, and others were engaged as whole
SAFE Doot and shoe dealers at Cincinnati the
puylng and selling of wool, dealing in leather
ana otner commodities. They purchased the
STEAMBOAT MARTHA WASHINGTON
oaded her apparently with costly freight.
mad the barge insured for large sum and
sent her down the Mississippi regularly con-
signed to their cores pondents at New Or
leans The captain was one of the conspira-
TORS ana mad charge of the whole plot and its
be composed of boxes of hoots
and shoes, leather wool and
other valuable merchandise was in reality
MADE OF refuse material of no value and the
Jokes SO carefully fastened, and marked to
their owners. were filled with wood stora
and rubbish of every character At d certain
tlme When passengers and crew were Quietly
sleeping, and at moment when the act
could be the most safely committed, the cap
| tam was to fire the vessel in such manner "a
TO insure its destruction. and then
| the conSpiratorS were to collect the
insurance upon the vessel and valuable
cargo as total loss. Apparently eyery-
thing succeeded as planned. The cargo was
publicly and carefully placed on board and
no suspicion excited as to its character OF
genulneness The captain was well known.
| ana the vessel sailed upon her voyage with
her cargo richly insured. At certain time
sue took nre: The fire spread with incon-
ceNaple rapldlty. the crew and officers
TOOK TO THE BOATS
| and most of the lives were saved Nobodv
doubted that the terrible accident was one
| or those incidents inseparable from the dam
gers OF navigation, and the captain was svm,
patnlZed with as sufferer who had met un<
nerlted misfortune. In due time a schedule
OF the losses was carefully prepared
| the proofs of the mercaudise DESTROYED.
laid before the underwriters and. so far
|
| no ooJecton to the payment, and the crime
OF INSANE and his associates was about to bel
satisfactorily consummated. At this time
there hved in Cleveland well-known citizens
nalneo oloney burton. He was of excellent
character. well liked by his neiohbors of
considerable influence, and a prominent.
business men. He had had quite intima1e
dealings with Kissane and his partners I'm,
CINCINNATI, and was on terms of friendsb1u
WIN them. Inc origin of his suspicion can
hr,%
he swore that at one time he over
heard one OF the partners in the
countng-room cursing God Almighty be-
cause ne heard nothing of the fate of the
S 9.eanaer. In any event these people owed
burton money. 1t was not paid, and Burton
whose suspicious were aroused as to the
cnaracter OF these persons, began to investi-
gate the history of the lost steamer He
gave notice to the insurance COM
panies of his belief in the fact
that great crime had been committed,
ana with the patience and the untiring
olugence OF detective he began his work
AS ne progressed in making proof after
PROOF that satisfied his own mind as to the
nature and magnitude of the fraud he be-
came almost monomaniac on the subject.
he abandoned his business at home his
famliy. spent his own money eargerly and
I saTis hisss ft pursuit of his end, and at last
his efortswere
CROWNED WITH SUCCESS.
|
pay, ana suits were instituted to compel them.
Finally all the conspirators were arrested and
taken to Columbus for hearing before q
} United States commissioner United States
District Attorney Morton, of Toledo, was
assisted by Hon. Henry Stansberry
III the prosecutions. and the de-
PENDANTS counsel covered large num-
berof the most eminent lawyers IN Ohio
J among them Noah H. Swayne and Thomas
Ewing. The defendants went to Columbus,
! n inl b1-+ +hni,
They were a fine body of people, male and fe-
male, some twenty or thirty in number. had
plenty OF money. considerable social in
huence and excited the greatest ln-
terest among men of all classes.
MIR. Burton gave his testimony, and the whole
proof was carefully gone over. The result
was the binding over of the prisoners TO the
| United States court, and soon after bills Of
Indictment for conspiracy and murder were
found against them. From the day the de
PENDANTS were bound over upon
the testimony discovered by Burton
| the latter never for moment
abandoned his pursuit of the case. He spent
his money with absolute freedom, travelled
hundreds of miles by rail, steamer, on horse
back and on foot looking up testimony neces-
sary to convict. The writer of this was pres
ent at the trial of the case before Justice
Mclean. The trial lasted for weeks.
THE FEMALE FRIENDS
of the defendants swarmed about Columbus,
I Ill ana out OI COURT 1u6 testimony was
| overwhelming as to the prisoners guilt.
Proof of the character of the cargo, its
worthleSSneSS and fraudulent insurance was
amply furnished, and few doubted the gang
would meet punishment. On the conclusion
| of Mr.. BurtOn'S testimony, which on all points
had been clear and straightforward, but
upon side issue shaken by the cool, inSo-
lent, persistent, Skillful cross-examination by
Col. Swayne, the prosecution rested their case,
and to the aStOniShment of all the defense
after calling a few witnesses, at once submit
ted the case to the jury. This was done as q
clever trick. There was no real defense,
II aud both Ewing and Swayne dared not allow
|; Mr. Stansbtiry to have the closing argument
II to- the Jury. United States Attorney
4 Morton was wholly unprepared to address the
i jury, but he did the best he could upon the
moment. The defense again submitted the
case to court ''without argument thus
cutting off Stansbury and in effect
placing themselves wholly in the hands OF
the judge. Judge Mclean charged the jury
so strangely that the jury presented YER
dict of mot guilty" and this gang of crimin-
ais, the worst Ohio had ever known, escaped
conviction. kisSane was specially noted.
w holeSome and somewhat attractive in per.
son, q very fluent speaker, with bland and in.
noceut manner. ever well-dressed and
always appearing like a gentleman and refined
person, he managed TO gain largely the SYM
patby of the spectators. The verdict broke
the heart of Mr.. Burton. He seemed dazed
by the shock and bis occupation gone. He
returned to Cleveland bankrupt in fortune,
i having spent over S50000 in the pursuit of
i these rascals. His interest in life ceased,
and not long after be died. His fate
CAUSED GREAT SYMPATHY
at the time and he was regarded with special
interest. Some effort was made to reimburse
him for his money expended, but the verdict
of mot guilty was conclusive with the,